Posts Tagged ‘Suzanne Harper’

Sparrow Delaney, the 7th daughter of a 7th daughter can see, smell, and hear dead people, a fact she desperately tries to hide from her eager, psychic-filled family. Ignoring her gift reaches it’s height of difficulty when she starts receiving messages from a very persistent ghost. Sparrow is forced to decide between protecting her secret or helping a friend in need.

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney is a fun book that combines mystery, a little romance, and a traditional coming of age tale. Sparrow is highly likable as a character and as narrator. She’s well-developed and her portrayal is believable and honest. Other characters, mainly her 6 sisters, are not as well developed, and their personalities are basically dictated by their names (all 7 sisters are names after birds). This is a slight weakness, but does not distract from the many strengths of the novel. This is Sparrow’s novel, and her immense likability is what I imagine will win most readers over.

I’d recommend The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney even to those that do not enjoy paranormal plots, as there is much more to this novel than just ghost and seances.

If I can learn one new thing while reading a book, I’m pretty pleased. In that regard, The Invention of Everything Else is more than pleasing. At times I felt like I should be taking notes (did you know limicine means slug-like? I didn’t). I mean that in the best possible way.

Not quite faction; not quite historical novel, The Invention of Everything Else tells the story of the last days of the eccentric inventor Nikola Tesla at the Hotel New Yorker. This is imagined history interwoven with real history. History as we all sort of wish it could be.

This is a fascinating, at times baffling, and always compelling novel. The writing is superb and I think most readers will find this not only highly readable, but also highly educational, a quality only the finest examples of fiction can manage without being heavy handed. I also really enjoyed the little cameo by one of my favorite authors!

Highly recommended, especially for those who know little about Tesla, as I suspect this will spark a further interest to learn more about the mysterious inventor.